The Andrews Labor Government is supporting aspiring early childhood teachers to boost their skills and delivering a pipeline of quality educators for a growing Victoria, with the expansion of supported employment-based university courses in early childhood education.

Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt announced an extra 1,330 places in the Early Childhood Innovative Initial Teacher Education program  for  2022,  future-proofing  the local teaching  workforce  and  supporting  the   rollout of  the  Labor   Government’s  signature Three-Year-Old Kindergarten reform.

The program provides accelerated entry for 780 diploma-qualified graduates into the early childhood sector through recognition of prior studies and experience, providing flexible learning options and employment support so they can continue working in early childhood as they upskill to become degree-educated teachers.

A further 550 students will experience better placement and mentoring experiences during their early childhood teaching degree as well as professional development for those in the workforce, under the Early Childhood Professional Practice Partnerships initiative.

The program will be offered at the University of Melbourne, Victoria University, Deakin University, La Trobe University and the Australian Catholic University.

The Labor Government has invested $32 million in the Early Childhood Innovative Initial Teacher Education program over three years to help build a pipeline of job-ready early childhood teaching workers.

This investment builds on the Government’s Australian-first investment of almost $5 billion to deliver a full 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kinder to children across the state over this decade, with the statewide rollout of five funded hours of kinder to all three-year-old to be complete at the start of the 2022 school year.

For more information visit vic.gov.au/innovative-early-childhood-teaching-courses.